Considering Genre

Well, after knowing for a while now, I will now publicly declare my genre of choice for my first English project. Don't get too excited now...


The Big Reveal

Wikiwatcher1 "Studio Publicity Still for Film Daddy Long Legs" 12/31/1954 via Wikipedia. Public Domain

It's a quick reference guide (QRG).  My reasoning by choosing this genre is simple: it looks like something that is easier for me.  Now before you think I'm a slacker, let me justify myself!  I personally want to start off with a genre that I think would be easier for me to construct so that I can get a feel for how we will proceed with the projects in class.  This way I learn and have to worry more about what is wanted in terms of actual material, and not how figure out how to work some piece of technology other than a computer.


Goals, so many goals

My main goal for the production phase is information organization.  I like the way QRGs use bold subheadings to organize the content and guide the reader easily through the story.  My goal is to figure out what the headings should be, and how they are situated in order for the project to as reader friendly as possible.  I also want to find clever ways to incorporate pictures and pull quotes, so that they are cohesive within the QRG.  The pictures are important so that the audience can relate more to the main stakeholders in the argument.  The pull almost will act like a summary or overall theme of certain paragraphs, so that it's almost like a little hint for the reader.

And I'll develop those white spaces because, you know, I absolutely adore the clean look they give to the articles.


And my feelings?

I'm pretty confident that I will be able to do a pretty good job on this project.  Although I've never done a QRG, it is more writing oriented, which I have more experience in.  However, this intense sounding production week falls over the top of my lovely Chemistry 152 test on Friday.  I anticipate that his week will be a little more hectic than most, and that time management will be key. Another difficult part, pertaining more to the project,  will simply be formatting for me.  Making something that is tasteful and still eye-catching is something I find a little challenging.

Cluster of Stakeholders

My little cluster map has three stake holders.  Since I was not able to connect "limbs" of each branch together, I have made it so that each stakeholder has their own individual branch that goes further in depth into each one and their individual stance on the situation,.  With this in mind, I tried to make each branch as detailed as possible so that it could be followed more easily.

So, with that being said, here is my cluster map.

Riabinin, Boris "RIAN archive 502881 A Scene from Giselle" 1/1/1966 via Wikipedia Commons. AttributionShare-Alike 3.0 Unported.

Evaluation of General Sources

After compiling several sources over my controversy, I will now evaluate two of my sources that I believe provide quite a bit of contextual information regarding my subject matter.  I have found that a lot of my information comes online magazine articles and a few blog posts and less from visual sources.

 Source #1:  La Petite Mort: Alastair Macaulay and the Death of Dance Criticism

 

Kolnik, Paul "Jenifer Ringer Career Retrospective" 8/24/2010

• URL: http://www.clydefitchreport.com/2010/12/la-petite-mort-alastair-macaulay-and-the-death-of-dance-criticism/   the dot com mean that it is a corporate site and that there is some commercial purpose to the site.   
• Author: Leonard Jacobs.  Former editor of  Backstage, the trade publication for American actors, and is the founding editor of Theatermania.com.  
• Last Updated: December 5, 2010 
• Purpose: To publicly call out and chastise certain arts critics (including Alastair Macaulay) that have included criticism on the weight and physical appearance of professional performers in their reviews.
• Graphics: There are two images at the beginning that seem to show a blurred human figure moving very quickly.  I'm not exactly sure how this furthers the article.  Perhaps it represents a dancer?
• Position on Subject:  The author definitely disagrees with the Macaulay, and seems to find that he is an insensitive careless writer, whose comment did nothing to further the review.
•  Links: The author includes a few other links with information that further would give the reader more insight into the controversy and the people involved.  The include an article by Jennifer Edwards of the Huffington post, the article by Alastair Macaulay that started the controversy, as well as Macaulay's response to all the negative criticism he received.                     

Source #2: Timeless Alchemy, Even When No One Is Dancing

 

• URL: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/arts/dance/29nutcracker.html?_r=0  because there is a .com, there means that it is a corporate site that most likely will have commercial purposes.

• Author: Alastair Macaulay.  New York Times chief dance critic and dance historian.
• Last Updated: November 28, 2010
• Purpose:  The purpose of his review was to review the production and dancing of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker. However, in the end paragraph he seems to change his purpose to criticize the two principal dancers' weights.
• Graphics: Two pictures are included.  One is of the entire Nutcracker cast on stage, and the other is of Principal dancer Ashley Bouder, who he praises in the article.  These images are not something that are being used to further the controversy he started though.
• Position on Subject: He seems to believe that Principal dancer Jenifer Ringer, who played the Sugarplum Fairy, seems to be a bit too big, and that her Cavalier, Jared Angle, looks to have gained quite a bit of weight.
• Links: There are links included in his online review; however, they are not links that talk about the controversy, since this review is what started the controversy in the first place. There was a link that he included which seemed to be a video of Ringer dancing the Sugarplum fairy.  It has now been taken down from Youtube though.

Reddit and What I Found There

Tiganik, Priit "Neuroscience 2.jpeg" 11/21/2011 via Wikipedia.  Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

In an attempt to find topics in my neuroscience major, I turned to Reddit.  Unfortunately,  I found that most of the stuff on the site wasn't that much of a help.  It's site was a pain to navigate, and when I did find stuff there were either no comments, or several comments that contributed nothing to the conversation.  However, I did come across a couple conversations that were useful and had meaningful content.


1. What kinds of things do people in the Reddit forums seem to be arguing about, debating, disagreeing about or otherwise engaging in meaningful exchanges of ideas about? Give us a descriptive and clear sense of the kinds of stories you're seeing in the Reddit forums.

 I found that most of the threads were created to ask questions about specific areas of the brain and their functions, show specific findings/studies, and even how to use certain equipment and what methods are best.  Of the threads that actually had comments, most people seemed to be disagreeing on the validity of certain tests and procedures, and what scientists are studying.  Other threads often times will offer advice to the question-askers.


2. In your opinion, what are the two most interesting debates/disagreements you found in the Reddit forums? Hyperlink us to the two different Reddit threads and explain why you found those debates interesting. 

1.  The first thread that I found interesting was a short thread were someone was debating whether the Blue Brain project is attempting to model the human brain when they still haven't modeled the brain of a more simplistic animal, such as ants.  It thought it was an interesting thread because it because no one really argued, but instead offered logical explanations, such as the brain cells of ants being too small for neuroscience technology and the role of politicians funding certain projects and how researchers are a sense restricted in what they study. 
2. The second thread I found pretty informational and interesting was a brain imaging AMA with Ben Inglis and JB Poline.  I think what I found most interesting is that the debates and questions really ranged in terms of their level of knowledge. For instance, you had a couple people arguing with the guests over the the benefits of fMRI versus PET scans and how to interpret z-scores, while another small conversation was over how to explain a fMRI to a 5 year old.  However, most of the conversations on here seemed to be professional or college students in neuroscience who were asking specific research oriented questions.

Overall, what impression do you get of your discipline based on what you saw happening in the Reddit forums? Were the people in those forums talking in ways you expected or did not expect, about things you anticipated they'd be talking about or things you had no idea they'd be discussing?

I got the impression that my major focuses primarily on research and utilizes a considerable amount of imaging technology.  I found that most of the conversations for the neuroscience subreddit utilized better grammar and had more insightful information than other subreddits. Perhaps this is because I was looking at a subreddit that presented research information.  Originally, I tried to this blog post using dance, but I could not find any well thought out or meaningful debates.  This could be because I am not familiar with Reddit though.


 

Twitter and What I Found There

Hello again.  It's time for blog post #3 for week 2.  This means I was required to actually the utilize the twitter account I made at 16 and never used.  I have decided to look into different neuroscience articles on Twitter to see what these social media savvy scientists are up to.

Neuroscietists get on Twitter?

• Why yes they do!  Two of the sites I found, Neuroscience  and Neuroscience News, are both run by scientists in the neuroscience field.

What's happening on these neuroscience feeds?

• These feeds are mostly tweeting links to scientific research studies that are pertinent to the field of neuroscience.  
• The first fascinating article that I read was from Neuroscience, and talked about computer chips the size of a grain of rice that could be implanted on the skull to measure temperature and intracranial pressure, and then dissolve afterwards.  I thought it was incredible that they are finding even less invasive procedures.  The dissolving of the microchip is what takes the product to a whole different level.  Dissolving, could save a patient from a second procedure that would be for extracting the microchip.  There were not any comments on the article on its site or on twitter.  The couple retweets that it got though all seemed to be very impressed.
• The second short article I looked at came from Neuroscience News.  In it, it discusses how scientists are studying the self-sacrificial behaviors of bees and ants and how they are possibly related to human suicides.  Although, we and and these insects share many common behavior characteristics, the self-suicides in the insects is a survival tactic to protect the line of genes.  What puzzles scientists is the fact that human suicides to not seem to serve any protective purpose and appear to be maladaptive.  Once again, no comments on this article.  There were a few retweets though; however there were not comments attached to them, this must mean they retweeted them because they find them interesting.

Were the Twitter feeds what I expected?

• Yes, their content was very much what I expected.  I think that as an area that is very focused on scientific research, you would want to be posting about current findings.  However, I was very surprised by the lack of retweets and likes many of their posts received in comparison to their number of followers.  I was also incredibly surprised by the lack of discussion over these posts on twitter.  I would think these would bring up a variety of topics, such as ethical boundaries and even mental disorders, but everything seemed pretty tame.  However, I am not very familiar with the workings of Twitter, so perhaps I missed something.   

Schultz, Thomas "DTI sagittal fibers."9/22/2006 via Wikipedia.  Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported

Evaluation of News Magazine Stories.

In this blog post I will be investigating two articles pertaining to my neuroscience major.  One article is from Newsweek and  the other is from The Atlantic. 

How Neuroscience Reinforces Racist Drug Policy

Wikiworldorder/Anonymous, "Cannabis Fractal (raw animation)" 1/26/2012 via Wikipedia

. 

Public Domain License

 

This article in The Atlantic begins by discussing the findings of Harvard's medical school on how marijuana effects the structures of the brain.  Their findings show differences in density, volume, and shape between the nucleus accumbens and amygdala regions between "casual smokers" and non-smokers.  From their findings, it appears that these areas could affect a wide range for emotions used for decision making.  

Even though the study made no greater claims other than saying that essentially the two kind of brain are different; however, it has brought back up the ethnic history of the marijuana, and could possibly implies brain differences among different groups.  Research shows that the there are considerably more arrests for marijuana possession among blacks than there are among whites.  Also, with its ties to Mexican immigrants crossing the border, marijuana is soaked with racial criticism. 

What really increases the debate is how accurate these predictions about the brain could be.  People are wondering how unbiased these results could be.  How do you classify a brain abnormality as hazardous or dangerous if you haven't done done case studies and observed subjects' behavior?

Hmmmmmmm.....

The National Insitiute on Drug Absue (NIDA) has been found to slightly exaggerated their drug testing results.  And it so happens that they also helped fund the Harvard research study. 

Many people are concerned about civil rights.  The stigma associated with the drugs, coupled with these alleged findings, may lead to more arrests or harsher treatment on these minorities.  While many question the validity of these results, NIDA claims that they just want to make young adults think twice about the relationship between their bodies and drugs.  Although I can see the point of the NIDA, I see no need to try to extrapolate such claims.  If your evidence does not explicitly point to it, you should not try to wave it around as something else.  What also bothers me is the the fact that they do not talk about medical marijuana, but instead focus on negative drug use.  In all, I feel more sympathetic to the minorities affected by this situation in the fact that their appearance is somewhat colored by the "findings" of the researchers. 

 

Ben Carson Once Studied Fetal Brain Tissue, Now Calls the Research 'Disturbing' 

The debate for this rather short article from Newsweek centers around the 2016 presidential candidate and doctor Ben Carson.  Carson, running as a Republican, has joined in with many other of the party's candidates in his support of pro-life efforts.  However many in the scientific community seem to be slightly skeptical of this.

 

Now obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Jen Gunter comes in.  On her blog, she shows a picture of the released study done by Carson and several of his colleagues at John Hopkins that utilized the bodies of 9 and 17 week aborted fetuses in order to investigate how chambers in the human brain develop.

 

Carson spoke out about this incident to Fox News explaining how at 17 weeks the fetus has developed several distinguishable features as well as a beating heart, and is receptive to environmental stimulus.  In fact, he said that is 'disturbing' the way we are treating human life and that there is "nothing that can't be done without fetal tissue."  And in an interview with the Washington Post hes dismissed Gunter's claims as "desperate" and ignorant.

 

Gunter responded by saying that Carson should be well aware that without the use of fetal tissue, their field would be far less advanced than it is today.

 

So here's what I'm thinking...

I can't connect to, much less sympathize with, Ben Carson on this.  You cannot refute claims like this that you yourself published!  To me this shows dishonesty and a strange pro-life facade, somethig that will not garner trust from either political party.

  

Personally not my presidential candidate choice.

 

Vadon, Michael, "Dr. Ben Carson at the Southern Republic Leadership Conference, Oklahoma City, OK May 2015" 5/25/2015 via Wikipedia. Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International.

 

Evaluation of New York Times Stories

For this blog post, I have decided to investigate two articles from two different sections of the New York Times.  I know what area I will be doing my research topic in, so I intentionally tried to choose stories from different areas in order to just learn about something different.  

Article Number 1

Frodesiak, Anna. 

The first article that I investigated was the top headline of the New York Times Health section. The article, "As Population Ages, Where Are the Geriatricians?", focuses primarily on Dr. Eckstrom along with a few other geriatricians.

 What is a geriatrician you ask?
Geriatricians focus solely on the needs of geriatric patients. In the article, Dr. Eckstrom and the other geriatricians communicate the importance of geriatricians to today's aging Baby Boomers.  They insist that geriatrics require a special attention that orthopedists and even general doctors do not always provide.  Often times there are more than just physical needs that the geriatric patient has; geriatricians are specialized to deal with mental degeneration, such as dementia.  With their focus solely on the care of older individuals, they can not only help geriatrics cope with age, but actually help them reverse some of the hindering side effects of aging.

Although the location is not always outright stated, we can tell that by what the writer is describing that he interviewed these medical professionals and their patients in both hospital rooms and a doctor's examination room.  I found that the author did not spend that much time going into the setting, instead, pictures were added that showed the patients in the examinations rooms.  These definitely made the patients appear weak, feeble, and isolated in the tiny, stark, white rooms.  They appear vulnerable, and as individuals who need special care and attention.  These image boost the appearance of the geriatrician, for they are the dwindling group of medical providers who are still willing to take a pay cut in salary in order to care for these individuals.

I feel as though the article presents less of a debate, and more a slow growing crisis.  Although the article mentions how some health care professionals question even the need of geriatricians, this small component compared to the in depth explanation of a geriatrician's job, and how they positively contribute to the lives of their patients.

Article Number 2

The second article, "Slush Puddles, the Scourge of New York Walkers," comes from the opinion section and concerns the recent bombardment of snow out east, specifically New York City.  The author and concerned father, Tom Vanderbilt, begins the article recounting his trip to a neighborhood Brooklyn park with his daughter.  Their trip is plagued with unshovled side walks, waist deep snow at intersections, and icy patches on designated walking areas. 

If only they could have walked in the middle of the road...

Vanderbilt, notes that the road are almost completely clear for the cars and buses.  They race by with relative ease.  Conversely, pedestrians face a snowy obstacle course.  After trudging through the snowy sidewalks,  they enter waist deep snow piles to cross the intersection, his small daughter's head barely poking above the icy labyrinth. Such an image makes it seem as though the city is just pitching the poor pedestrians against the towering snow piles.   Why, Vanderbilt wonders, in the "most walkable city in America" do they not plow the sidewalks?  In fact, most households in the city don't have cars simply due to the traffic, so the majority of New Yorkers walk.  

In the article, Vanderbilt points out that the city does acknowledge this fact and that there does need to be adequate clearing of the sidewalks, as to not endanger citizens with the possibility of black ice. However, here's the problem,  it's up to New Yorker to shovel their portions of the street.

This is good in theory.

What frustrates Vanderbilt and other pedestrians is the fact that people don't shovel their portion of the sidewalks.  However, he doesn't seem to be angry with the people of New York, but rather the city itself.  He implies that sidewalks should be public property, and consequently the city should be in charge of plowing the sidewalks and protecting its residents.  To support his opinion, he lists other city that do provide this for their residents.  He even suggests a way to remedy the problem: heated sidewalks.

Unfortunately,  it appears that the stakes for the city are relatively low; whereas for the pedestrians, it is very high.  The risk of injury from falling is higher, and the risk of being completely soaked in snow seems to we...well... inevitable.

Shankbone, David, "The Lower East Sid of New York After the January 25th Blizzard"1/26/2010 via Wikipedia. Attribution 3.0 Unported.

 

Course Projects

What are you most confused by or nervous about in regards to the four major projects? 

• After going through the four projects, there are two things in particular that make me the most anxious: 
• Having enough time to choose and research a topic I can truly connect to.
• Arranging interviews with faculty members, and constructing a set of questions that will be most beneficial in gathering the information I need.

 What are you most interested in or excited by in regards to the four major projects?

• Dance is one of my majors, and since I began training around 5, I am more familiar with the current events and mediums of communication in the realm of dance.  On the other hand, I am less familiar with the happenings in the world of neuroscinece and I feel these projects will get me better acquainted with this field.  However, I am excited about being able to delve deeper into both of my areas of interest.  I'm also ready to take on the challenge of constructing an argument. I love finding logical reasons and evidence that support my stance because, like most humans, I love to be "right."
 

Anonymous, "Tiny Face Mitt." 2014 via imgur.

 

Based on your understanding of the major projects, what are the elements of this course that you have to plan ahead for? How will the coursework described in the four project assignment sheets challenge your time management skills this semester?

• It happens to be that the elements I am most nervous about are the ones that take the most time and planning.  For me, it's making sure I create enough time to find and research a topic I can resonate with.  In terms of the interviews, planning them involves doing additional research on the faculty you are choosing, and then creating a series of questions that will be the most effective in terms of gathering the information you require.  The final self-reflection project will also require planning in advance.  As we talked about in class, it would be ideal to jot down some notes along the way so that you can reference what was difficult for you, how you tackled these difficulties, and perhaps even useful ideas or constructive criticism from classmates. 
• In terms of my time management skills,  I think they will be pushed a little more than usual in order to accommodate the hours required to complete successful projects for this class. I am carrying 21 credit hours this semester (I keep telling myself that I can't get too overwhelmed because others take 25 credits), so I will most likely need to map out a day-by-day map for completing each project task.  This also means lots of sticky notes. Lots and lots of sticky notes.

How has your past English coursework in high school or college prepared you for the challenges of this course? What skills will you bring into the course with you?

• I feel that my assignments in my high school English classes have done a relatively good job in preparing me for this course, especially in terms of writing an essay.  Contrary to many, I greatly enjoy writing essays (I know! What's wrong with me?!).  However, my English class never had me present my material in the form of podcasts, or video essays, so in that sense I would say that my English classes did NOT prepare me well.
• For 109H, I believe I will be able to bring my strong attention to detail, and willingness to participate and openly discuss and debate with my classmates.

Do you have any questions about the four major projects that haven't been answered by the assignment sheets? What do you still want to know?

• I can't think of any additional questions...as of now. 

Reflection

After reading many peoples' blog posts it is comforting to know that we all seem to be mildly worried about these projects (mostly about the genre choices not as much the kind of project).  It also seems like people have a lot of different time management/study strategies, so perhaps this will be good opportunity try out some new approaches. 

Oh, and I commented on Julia's and PJ's blog posts!   

Investigating Genres

· 

1) What purpose(s) does this genre usually serve?

• Quick reference guides serve to condense and summarize information on a topic in order to make it more digestible for the reader.  In addition, the quick reference guide pairs written work with visual aspects, such as tables, graphs, pictures and videos.  These help further what the author is trying to covey, without him/her having to write more.  The visual aspects are also more attractive to readers.

2) Where, how, or in what context do readers usually find this genre?

• The internet is teeming with quick reference guides.  Almost anyone who subscribes to online magazines has probably encountered this genre.  Even if you do not subscribe to these, many of these quick reference guides are able to be shared over social media, such as Facebook, and can therefore reach an even larger audience.

3)  Who is the typical audience for this genre?

·      The typical audience for quick reference guides are people who want specific and concise information on a topic, have access to the internet, and, frankly, are still willing to read in order to get information.

4) What are some of the key features that are unique to this genre that distinguish it from other         texts?

·      Aside from using visuals, like videos, graphs, and pictures, to further textual content, the quick reference guide implements other organizational and eye-catching features that appeal to their readers. 

o    Subheadings.  Often times these subheadings are major questions or statements that the readers might have. These easily guide the reader to each section, and make the article less visually monotonous. 

o   Hyperlinks: Unlike video essays or podcasts, quick reference guides often contain hyperlinks.  These are often attached to give the audience an even deeper level of knowledge on a particular subject if they choose to use the hyperlink.

5) Based on your answers to the questions above, come up with a definition in your own words for this genre. 

• A quick reference guide is concise, yet in depth, genre of writing that incorporates visual elements, such as graphs, videos, and pictures, as well as hyperlinks to help further the readers knowledge, and provide a more visually enticing article.  Its subheadings make the article more approachable to readers, as these break up the article into manageable chucks  that are more “reader friendly.”  

Nemcsek, Thomas. "...Next Generation" 5/11/2014 via flickr.  Creative Commons License: Attibution 3.0 Unported

Reflection

I commented on Emily's and Michael's posts.  After reading their posts, I realized how much these forms of media permeate our everyday lives.  For instance, I thought it was interesting how you could possibly consider a news report on TV a video essay. I had never thought about it until now.  

In terms of the writing process,  I am relieved that others seem to have a very mixed approach to writing such as mixing the heavy planner approach with sequential composing.  Even though I do something similar each time I write, there are always variations on how I choose to write my paper.  I specifically remember that Emily mentioned trying to create a schedule of when she writes, as well as when she takes breaks.  I think that I might try to implement this strategy, since I easily become stressed over major projects. 

My Writing Process

1) What type(s) of writer do you consider yourself?

• I tend to think of myself as a mix between a sequential composer and a heavy reviser.  Like a heavy reviser, I have found that for the opening of whatever I am writing, I must scribble down almost anything and everything that comes to mind.  From there, I take a fair amount of time editing that portion so that I have a clear "road map" for the rest of my writing.  The rest of my writing is somewhat similar to a sequential composer.  I will often plan out the writing in my head, and then make a detailed outline with some bullet points, as to not lose my thoughts as I continue.

2) Does your writing include several of the above approaches? If so, which ones?

• As I mentioned before, I tend to utilize the approaches of both the sequential composer and the heavy reviser. For instance, I enjoy working with a thorough outline like other sequential composers.  This allows me to focus more on how I will construct my sentences and phrasing, in order to make my writing as effective as possible.  I am constantly revising my work as I write as well.  In fact I have a difficult time making actual separate drafts because I am constantly trying to pick things apart.

3)  Does your writing process seem to be successful? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your approach?

• Thus far, my writing approach appears to be successful.  I have come to truly appreciate outlines and the way they help guide and structure my paper.  My thoughts are far more organized and I experience less stress throughout the writing process.  The downside of my method occurs in the editing process.  Often times I will edit as I write. This can be beneficial; however, occasionally I will become so preoccupied with a section and neglect to even begin writing others.

4) Do you think it might be beneficial for you to try a new approach? Why or why not?

• The last approach is the procrastinator method, and I personally don't wish to try that!  Reflecting on what I have said, I think the best strategy for me would be to tweak the method that I have already set in place by forcing myself to create actual drafts.  Instead of just working off of one document the whole time, I would have completely separate documents for each draft.  That way I can easily see what I have changed and how it affects my entire essay/writing project.  This method may also pull me away from constantly editing while I write, allowing me to manage my time on the entire work more wisely. 

McPhee, Nic. "2008-01-26 (Editing a paper)-18" 1/26/2008 via flickr. Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic License